Long time no see...

.... and it will have to wait a little while longer as I have just been asked to do an urgent translation.
(sigh)

Oh well, maybe I cannot resist the power of the blog...

I have been looking at French films on in Edinburgh this week and beyond:
1) Arsène Lupin
2) Kings and Queen

Arsène Lupin is based on a series of detective stories originally written by Maurice Leblanc, and it's been dear to the French ever since...
Lupin is basically the archetypal figure of the gentleman burglar, seductive, charming and... ruthless... His opponent, Herlock Sholmès, is ridiculed again and again, in a number of scenarii that see Lupin escape his enemy thanks to his wit and skills. The 70s saw a good TV production, starring actor Georges Descrières as the eponymous hero. In my opinion, it'll be quite difficult to do better than this, especially when considering the appallingly abysmal efforts of recent films based on previous incarnations, TV or otherwise (such as the incredibly disappointing Vidocq)... Having had a quick look at opinions here and there on the web, I can only say that it reinforces my opinion that the film is not (sadly) really worth paying for...
As opposed to Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen), also showing this week (in the Cameo)
This film, I would recommand warmly, first of all because I really like what Despléchins does normally (with the exception of Comment je me suis disputé, that I didn't enjoy at all, but more because it reminded me of a past I'd rather forget, than due to a lack of artistic value!). You can have a look at a long extract here (real player).
Two stories are entertwined: Ismaël's tragi-comic déchéance and Nors'a personal tragedy after her father's death. I have to say, this looks absolutely amazing. I missed it when it first came out in the UK, but I am determined to go and see it - althoughy sadly the Cameo shows it only at 1.30pm, a truly inconvenient time! Hopefully it'll still be on at the week-end... One can only dream!

Lxox
www.french.edilang.com